Body and Brain Connection: XBox 360 Game Review

Is your brain well "Kinect-ed" to your body? The motion controlled sequel to Brain Age is here, but is it the coming of a new era?

Chances are that, if you have a Nintendo DS, you probably have
played Brain Age at one point. Well, Dr. Kawashima is back and
on the XBox this time. Also, he will not only be testing your
brain, but your body as well!

Courtesy of Namco Bandai

Courtesy of Namco Bandai

Courtesy of Namco Bandai

Courtesy of Namco Bandai

Courtesy of Namco Bandai

Courtesy of Namco Bandai

Courtesy of Namco Bandai

Exercises and Drills

Similar to Brain Age, this game consist of several exercises and
drills that you perform daily while tracking your overall progress.
There are five categories: Physical, Math, Reflexes, Logic, and Memory.
Each of these categories have four exercises (20 exercises in total)
and three difficulty settings.

Some of them are interesting, such as the drill where you need to move
pac-man with one hand and collect fruit with the other. You can also
play with a friend, which changes the game into something similar to a
TV quiz show and includes a few additional exercises.

Aging Whine

Overall, the game is quite frustrating. Even on the easy levels the game
is pretty unforgiving. While, in Brain Age, you got a long time limit to
do as many questions as possible, in Body and Brain Connection, you are
timed differently and might get cut off on a question really fast. Dr. Kawashima
is also a bit mean and getting poor letter grades on certain exercise may
discourage you. Most players will probably start skipping the recommended
exercises and just play the games that they are good at.

Adding to the frustration is the fact that working with the Kinect can be
a bit of a chore, as it can be easy to accidently do something that you
did not want to do and fail an exercise.

There are certainly some good exercises in Body and Brain Connection. However,
as a training tool, it is too annoying to work with. Even if you are a Brain
Age fan, I would not recommend this game.